• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

budget Opticron quality (1 Viewer)

I'm pretty new to the forum, and looking to get started with some decent 8x42 binoculars. I'd never even heard of Opticron until today, but I've found some great deals on ebay and now I'm trying to learn more. I'm most interested in the Discovery series, but the Explorer WA series is sometimes available for a good price as well.

How durable are these binoculars and what is their build quality like? I've seen very few complaints online, but they're out there. How would these compare in terms of build quality and durability to comparable offerings from Vortex and Nikon?

In fact, what would the comparable models be to the Discovery and Explorer?

The shame is that there are no Opticron dealers in my area, so I can't get my hands on one and look through it. But I'm willing to take a chance for a deal that will save me some cash and still get me a quality pair of binos.
 
If you want to buy something soon to take advantage of deals currently available, of the three options you mention, I would go for the Explorer. Nikon and Vortex make some good bins for the price as well, but based on a quick review of specs, the Explorer has the widest field of view of the three in the 8x42 model. Generally, Nikon has the nicest focusing function. I own different models by all three. All are generally well made and durable and fairly comparable in optical performance at a given price.

If you want to wait and study your options further before buying, you are likely to get more technically savvy advice and alternate recommendations from others here shortly.

Hope this helps.

Mike
 
Over many years both my wife and myself have used Opticron binoculars and scopes here in the UK and have never had ant serious problems with quality. I my opinion probably one of the best brands in the mid to lower range,iI cannot comment on higher quality as I have not tried enough of them.
 
Thanks for the replies. I watched a video review of several 8x32 binoculars and the reviewer complained about the small eyecups on the Discovery WP 8x32's. Has anyone else noticed this as an issue? Are the eyecups different on the 8x42s? Once again, I really wish there was a local place for trying these out, but instead I have to rely on the knowledge of others.
 
Thanks for the replies. I watched a video review of several 8x32 binoculars and the reviewer complained about the small eyecups on the Discovery WP 8x32's. Has anyone else noticed this as an issue? Are the eyecups different on the 8x42s? Once again, I really wish there was a local place for trying these out, but instead I have to rely on the knowledge of others.

I owned the Discovery 8x32 for a while. Nice binocular for the price. Note the Discovery series is very compact, especially the 8x32 you mention, this may be why the reviewer found the eyecups too small. Since you are looking for an 8x42 that shouldn't be a problem generally.
 
Eyecup size is an area where I find that several are too big for me and I have disposed of several pairs of otherwise good binoculars for this reason. Generally the more modern the design, the more likely they are to be bigger than their predecessors it seems. So a range of sizes is good, just a pity you don't get a choice of size. So what one reviewer may regard as a negative may be a positive for you.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top